that Saunders Ann Laubenthal brought to her evocation of Mobile in Excalibur". Stating that the novel was very different from Lindholm's earlier Ki/Vandien tales, Kondratiev said it "singled her out as a writer to watch" and "showed the scope of her talent". Academic Brian Attebery viewed the setting of the novel as sharing the aesthetic of works by Peter Beagle, Emma Bull and Nancy Willard, and suggested that it had "a particular concreteness that [...] provided firm ground and vivid detail to the narra­tives". Writing in 2010, Jo Walton lauded the book as "glitteringly brilliant" with "a genuine fairytale feel and genuine fairytale logic while being both totally original and firmly grounded in the reality of Seattle", but observed that it "falls down a bit when it's trying to have a plot". She also noted that the book's opening "no longer seems so charmingly, astonishingly odd as it did [when she first read it] in 1987", and emphasized her own discomfort with "glamourizing the homeless and making their lives and problems magical". In a different view, the themes in the novel were described by scholar Stefan Ekman as challenging and subverting stereotypes of homelessness. The book was featured in Bloomsbury's guide to the 100 best fantasy novels, where it was regarded as "a key work in the development of the urban fantasy subgenre", with praise for Lindholm's "original, stylish narrative". The 2003 French edition was awarded the Prix Imaginales for best fantasy novel. References Sources External links 1986 American novels Ace Books books American fantasy novels Contemporary fantasy novels Urban fantasy novels Novels set in Seattle